Southern Lobster Recipes

Recipes > Southern Lobster Recipes

Spiny Lobsters can be enjoyed in so many ways - grilled, broiled, sauted, stuffed. lobster fingers, lobster chowder, bisque, lobster pizza, lobster salad sandwiches - your choices are endless.

Alive or Dead?

Image Courtesy of FWC Media on Flickr

The spiny lobster's storage and eating precautions are the same as the Maine Lobster. You must keep the Lobster alive until you are ready to cook or freeze it.

Live lobsters can survive out of the water in the refrigerator for 2 days - store uncovered in a draw or wrapped in a wet towel, never in a sealed bag or container.

Cleaned lobster tails can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 days.

Lobsters spoil rapidly the minute they die, so test your lobster by touching it's tail, it should contract inwards, then play with their claw legs, they should move and try to nip you. When in doubt, throw it out.

Did you know there are three different colors of Spiny Lobster meat - pink, orange, and white?

 

Serving Sizes

• 1 pound whole lobster yields 1/3 pound cooked meat
• 1 pound whole Lobster per person
• 1 Lobster tail per person
• 1 pound Lobster meat serves 4

How to Clean a Spiny Lobster

The most common way to clean and store the spiny lobster is to remove the tail then cook or freeze the tails.

1. Put on some gloves and remove the tail by grabbing the Lobster, one hand on the tail, the other hand on the chest, then twist and pull.
2. Break off an antennae and discard the upper body or reserve for fish stock or grind up for fish chum.
3. Take the antennae, break it in half reserving about 6 inches of the sharp end then break off the very tip of the reserved piece where it's flexible.
4. De-vein the Tail: Firmly hold the tail on it's back with the fan end facing you, take the prepared antennae and push the narrowest point into the digestive track of the anus at the tip of the tail. Push the antennae in a few inches, twist, then pull it back out - the spikes on the antennae will grab hold of the big vein and remove it. Now the import part, flick the long vein you just removed using good wrist action, if you don't do it right you may have a big, slimy vein smack you in the forehead.

CAUTION: If the tail was just removed from a live or recently deceased Lobster, the tail may flinch while you're twisting the antennae into it's butt and cause you to jump, dropping the tail. If you're doing this on a dock, hold tight or your tail may take a swim. Here's a short video that shows you how easy it is to clean a Lobster.

Lobsters can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 72 hours. Freezing Lobster tails works great, just wrap them tightly in plastic wrap to keep them from getting freezer burn and then put them in a freezer ziplock bag.

Grilled Lobster

Tyson Brown of New Port Richey, Florida Grilling

By far the most popular way to enjoy the Spiny Lobster in Florida is to grill them one of 4 ways:

• Split Half Tails: Start by removing the tails from the body, remove the digestive track (see Cleaning above), then with a very heavy knife chop the tail in half. You can also take garden clippers to cut the whole tail down the middle.
• Butterfly Tails: Remove the tail from the body, remove the digestive track (see Cleaning above), then cut through the underside of the tail shell. Don't cut all the way through the ribs and membrane at the bottom of the shell, your goal is to create an envelope of shell with meat in the middle. Holding the shell firmly on it's back, "fold" the halves out away from each other breaking each rib in the middle ? it's easy ? press from below with your fingers. They sort of lock into place like that ? it's real nice for grilling. (Thanks Tyson for this tip!)
• Half Bodies: Cut the whole body in half length wise, leaving the small legs and head in place. Clean out the tomalley (liver and pancreas) if you desire, some like eating this tasty treat.
• Whole Bodies: Nothing to do here but it does take longer to cook the and hard to tell if they are done.

Grill whole tails about 7 minutes, time depends on how big the tail pieces are and whether they are cut in half, whole tails or half bodies.

To keep the meat moist you must baste the Lobster with melted butter or olive oil. There are many variations of a melted butter baste including adding fresh herbs, crushed Garlic, finely chopped jalapeno pepper or spice mixes.

Lime Cilantro Butter

A popular baste for Lobster is to melt butter in a pan and mix in chopped fresh Cilantro Leaves and Lime Juice, we call this authentic Florida cuisine. You can also add chopped Garlic to this baste.

Sauted Lobster

Removing the tail meat from the shell and saute in garlic butter is an amazing way to enjoy Spiny Lobster.

• Saute tails cut into chunks in butter, herbs and garlic and throw into Alfredo Sauce to make Fettuccine Alfredo.
• Saute chunks with garlic, butter, olive oil, white wine, and lemon juice then use as a pasta toping or taco filling
• Take the sauted chunks that are partially cooked use it as a pizza topping with sun dried tomatoes, fresh basil, olive oil and a combo of mozzarella and ricotta cheese.
• Saute chucks of Lobster, Shrimp, and Bay Scallops and use on Eggs Benedict instead of the usual ham slice.
• Add partially cooked chunks to homemade Mac & Cheese right before baking

Boiled Whole Lobsters

Boil whole Spiny Lobsters by placing the Lobster head first into a big pot of boiling salted water. Return water to boiling and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes, 20+ for large ones. You can also boil Lobsters for several minutes until the shell turns red, cool then remove the meat and add the slightly cooked meat to your favorite recipe or baste and broil.

The benefits of boiling your Bugs is you can use the whole body for many dishes. Remove the leg meat and bits of meat around the base of the legs and use for Lobster Salad. Take the discarded shells / guts and boil for fish stock or grind them up for fish chum. Use the tail meat in your favorite recipe like Lobster Pizza, Lobster Thermidor, or in a pasta dish.

Seafood Stuffed Lobster

• 2 large Lobsters, split length wise & body cavity cleaned
• 1 large Onion, chopped
• 2 large cloves Garlic, crushed
• 1/2 fresh Lemon
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup fresh Parsley, chopped
• 10 tablespoons Butter
• 1/4 pound Shrimp, cut into 1" pieces
• 1/4 Bay Scallops or Sea Scallops quartered
• 1/4 Crab Meat
• 1 sleeve Ritz Crackers
• Salt & Fresh Ground Pepper
• Melted Butter

Heat a large frying pan then add butter to melt. Add onions and garlic to the pan, saute a few minutes until onions are translucent, do not brown. Add the seafood and mix it all up and cook a few minutes to get the seafood cooking process started. Cut the lemon in half and fresh squeeze about 2 tablespoons over the mixture in the pan then season with salt and pepper, stir. Remove the crackers and hand-crush them into large pieces straight into the frying pan. Stir in chopped Parsley, mix iit all up and remove from heat. You do not want to cook everything, just heat it all up. Place the split Lobsters on a baking pan. Loosely stuff the body cavities and mound stuffing on tails, pat mixture lightly. Spoon or brush melted butter over the stuffing and bake.

Bake 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until tail meat done. Stuffing should get crunchy and golden brown. You can also bake the Stuffed Lobsters on the grill. Place charcoal on sides and heat to 350 degrees. Place the pan with stuffed Lobsters in the middle and grill, cover and cook 20 to 30 minutes.

More Stuffed Spiny Lobster

Check out this Stuffed Lobster Recipe on Spearboard which shows you step-by-step pictures on making the Stuffed Lobsters pictured to the left, your mouth will water!

Lobster Thermidor is also an excellent way to enjoy your Bugs stuffed. There are many versions of Lobster Thermidor, most have a creamy sauce with lobster meat and other goodies like bay scallops, shrimp and crab mixed in.

 

Jerked Lobster, Breaking all the Rules

Thanks to Tyson Brown of New Port Richey, Florida for sharing this recipe
Originally published May 6, 2009 by Chef Branden Lewis on www.connectprovidence.org

Servings: 4 pairs of split Lobsters

1/3 bunch Fresh Thyme Leaves (2 sprigs or 4 teaspoons dried)
4 teaspoons Kosher Salt (I use Sea Salt)
2 teaspoons Allspice, ground
? teaspoon Nutmeg, freshly grated
? teaspoon Cinnamon, freshly grated
4 teaspoons Granulated Sugar
2 teaspoons Black Pepper, freshly ground
1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (more or less to taste)
2 cloves Fresh Garlic, minced
? cup Medium Red Onion, roughly chopped
? bunch Fresh Cilantro, finely chopped
4 1? lbs whole Lobsters, split in half or Spiny Lobster tails, butterflied (leave in the shell which protects them from drying).
1 each Lime, cut into wedges

Begin by combining the thyme, salt, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar, black and cayenne peppers, garlic, and onion together in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. Pulse or crush until all is incorporated into a paste. Next, mix the paste and cilantro together until well incorporated. This is your jerk paste.

Preheat your grill to medium-high. Next, heat up some basting butter and mix in some of the jerk paste, adjusting quantities to taste.

Then, split each Lobster with a chef’s (French) knife or heavy sheers right down the middle. Leave or remove the tomalley (liver and pancreas - it looks like a green paste inside the abdominal cavity of a cooked lobster) based on your preference. Take a dime sized portion of your jerk paste and rub it into the exposed meat inside the tail, body and head. Be stingy, a lot of paste will go a long way.

Begin cooking by placing your jerked Lobster on the grill, cut side down. Lower the temperature to medium and close the lid. Cook the Lobster for 3-4 minutes, or until some coloring occurs. Next, flip them and baste with some of the jerk-infused butter. Close the lid again and continue cooking (and basting) until the tail meat is no longer translucent and the shell is a bright red (5-6 minutes). Serve immediately.

Lobster Shrimp Bisque

Creamy and refreshing best describes this wonderful rich bisque. Inspired by the Maine Lobster Bisque, Floridians have created their own version by using Spiny Lobster and fresh Gulf Shrimp. Lobster Bisque in Florida tends to be chunkier making it a meal in itself. Our guess is Floridians added Shrimp to the recipe because Lobsters are expensive and not always available fresh.

The traditional way to make bisque is to remove all meat from the Lobster and Shrimp shells then boil the carcasses and shells creating a stock. Pour the finished stock through a colander and discard the shells then make the bisque.

More Recipes

Check out the brochure from Florida Seafood Recipes: Lobsters for tips on storage and preparing Lobsters with many delicious recipes to cook your catch.

 

Other Lobster Resources

How to Catch Lobsters, Equipment & Regulations

History of Lobsters as a Delicacy

Southern Lobster Species to see some uncommon species